Melanurus Wrasse with lockjaw???

Camille

Camille

Member
I've had this guy for at least 2 years. I came home one day and he was swimming around with his mouth wide open. He only opens his mouth for food. I thought 'that's odd'. I thought it would go away but it's been a month and he's still the same. He still goes to bed like normal but he's not eating like he used to. I've seen him swim towards food but not really eat it. He's not skinny but he's also not as fat as he used to be. Is it possible to catch him and manipulate his jaw to 'unlock' it??? I feel pretty bad for the poor guy.

He's sharing a 500l tank with 3 tangs (that get on just fine) and a marine betta. They all get feed a variety of top quality pellet food, seaweed and the odd bit of frozen stuff (maybe once a month).

Any advice would be great!

Camille :)
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
There is some really good advice in the thread that Glenn posted.

These wrasses are known to injure their mouths while being shipped.

Does your tank have a 2-3 inch fine sand bed? These wrasses bury themselves in the sand every night to sleep. Sometimes they dive right into the sand at high speeds. If there isn't enough fine sand or if there are any large pieces of rubble in the sand, they can accidentally hit their mouth and injure it.

My recommendation would be to remove the fish to a quarantine/hospital tank where you can watch it more closely, medicate IF it becomes necessary, and feed and recover (hopefully!) free from the stresses of the display tank. Provide the fish with a large container of fine sand in the QT for it to sleep and feel secure in. The less stressed the faster it can heal.

As to luring it to feed, if live Brine Shrimp are available in your area, you might want to try that, or a fortified frozen Brine Shrimp. Not the greatest nutritionally, but most fish find this type of food irresistible and would be a good start in getting the fish to feed.
 
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